New agitation for restructuring begins in Bayelsa State as Southern and Midle Belt Leaders renew

Leaders of the Niger Delta under the aegis of the Pan Niger
Delta Forum, PANDEF, were, yesterday, joined by ethnic leaders from the
South-West, South-East and the Middle-Belt of the country at a mega rally held
in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State to renew their call for the restructuring of the
Nigerian federation in the interest of justice and equity.

But for the host governor, Hon Seriake Dickson, who was
physically present at the event held at the Grand Pavillion of the Oxbowl
Lake,his colleagues from the South-South were absent at the rally which
attracted prominent personalities from the zone, the South-West, South-East and
Middle-Belt.

The Chairman of the occasion, Chief Albert Horsfall, pioneer
Chairman of Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC, set
the tone for the rally. “The oil and gas belong to us, our freedom is a
constitutional right, above all, it is God given right and nobody can give it
to us or take it from us, therefore we should we should stop complaining”,
Horsfall said. “We of the Niger Delta of the South-South own this oil, the
money that accrues to the country from it is ours, today you may be in charge,
but tomorrow, we may be in charge, that is why we are asking for restructuring,
tomorrow we will take to ourselves what belongs to us and we will snatch it
from those who have been sitting on our lives for so long”. PANDEF National
Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, said: “The purpose of this rally is for us to manage
our own resources and if the governor of Bayelsa State as a federating unit of
Nigeria was allowed to managed its own resources, what we are seeing in Yenagoa
today would be different there will be more improvement and that is why we are
gathering today. The gathering today is the greatest gathering of the people of
four regions in one place.

“What are we fighting for- restructuring. We want quality in
this country, we want to feel that we are all members of this society, a
situation whereby the resources I have in my backyard are been mismanaged by
others and they feel that I should be thankful to them for the privileged they
have given to me, I will never allow it and that is the purpose of our
gathering. We must trust ourselves, no more going back, nobody should chicken
out, nobody is more important than us in this country, we are all equal.”
Revisit 2014 confab- Jonathan Former President Goodluck Jonathan, represented
by Senator Nimi Barigha Amange, while lauding PANDEF for organising the rally,
stressed the need for the Federal Government to revisit the 2014 Confab report
which, if implemented, could help to resolve the problems confronting the
country. Jonathan’s words, “I believe that this is the way to go; we have to
dialogue in order to avoid the opposite action which could bring about destruction
to lives, property and the very thing that holds us together as members of the
Nigerian federation. For a long time, citizens of this great nation have felt
the need to reappraise, reforme and restructure our federation to make it work
for all Nigerians.

“I convened the 2014 National Conference as my own answer to
that national yearning, I always explain to people that, in convening the
confab, I had my mind trained on establishing a polity that would work for our
people and further unite our country, one that would close the gap along
tribal, ethnic or religious line’. “It seems that until we come up with a more
generally acceptable way of running our republic, there will be every
likelihood that our nation will continue to witness agitation and protest from
groups and individuals. The goal of the 500-member confab, made up of the young
and old diverse people from all walks of life and representatives of all
interest groups in our country, was to thoroughly and truly discuss and to
agree on every issue that has agitated the minds of Nigerians on how best to
run the federation. “It is a confirmation of the fact that the 2014 Confab
report needs to be looked into. I believe the Confab report contains
recommendations that provide answers to most of those questions that agitate
the minds of Nigerians today. I am delighted that the forum like this one and
many others appeal to further focus attention to those issues that have been
comprehensively covered in that report.” In his remarks, Dickson said: “We are
the real lovers and believers of the Nigerian project and no intimidation or
blackmail should sway us to abandon this cause, our nation is crying justice
freedom and prosperity and unity that is sustainable and founded on justice,
and so, in this assembly, we are here as brothers and sisters.

“People who are far away may just talk of restructuring as a
slogan or as an ideal; here in this state and in this region, we feel the pains
of it, we live with it and we have lived with it for decades and so when there
is a call to reorganize our country and make it more stable, equitable, just
and more prosperous, we in Bayelsa are totally in support of that”. There were
solidarity speeches by the leaders of Afenifere, led by Chief Ayo Adebanjo; the
Ohaneze Ndigbo, led by Chief John Nwodo, and the leader of the Middle-Belt
Forum, Dr Bala Takaya, among others. Chief Olu Falae, Senator and Jonah Jang,
representatives of the governor of Akwa Ibom state, represented by the SG, Dr
Emmanuel Ekuwem, Delta state governor represented by Senator Emmanuel
Aguariovodo, Senator Ewa Henshaw and Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo also addressed
the occasion.

Dignitaries at the event include Alabo Graham Douglas, HRM
King Alfred Diete Spiff, Dr Walter Ofonagoro, Prof Godini Darah, former governor
of Ondo state Olusegun Mimiko, former Delta State Deputy Governor Prof Amos
Utuama, former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom state, Engr Chrs Ekpenyong, Senator
Stella Omu, Prof Faji Akintoye, former military governor of Rivers State, Gen
Zamani Lekwot. There was a one-minute silence for those who were killed by
herdsmen violence in the country.

New agitation for restructuring begins in Bayelsa State as Southern and Midle Belt Leaders renew
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Rating: 5